The Testing Cell
by Pencilia
Summary: Based on events that take place in MangoKat's series. In this one-shot, Ganondorf is fed up with Sakon, his thief, from stealing off of him, and decides it's time for him to be tested. Will Sakon be alright? (Akila is an O.C.)


The Testing Cell

Dramatically altered for a reason.

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Sakon ran, ducked, leaped and rolled past sand dunes. Gerudos were on his trail, on horseback. Ganondorf was at the lead on his own horse, Sakon not daring to throw bombs at Ganondorf, Akila close behind. She got close enough to Sakon that she was able to backflip off her horse and point her scimitar, a curved sword, mere inches from Sakon's nose and got right in front of him. The other Gerudos saw this as their chance to get off their horses the easy way. Akila was about to grab Sakon, when he muttered something the others could not hear, so she covered his mouth with her hand.

Ganondorf was mad at Sakon. So mad, he went into his giant, pig-thing form, Ganon. Sakon let out a scream of terror. Ganondorf's subordinates revelled in his fright. Sakon knew not what to do. Ganon's rage was apparent as the earth shook as he pounded the ground with his mighty fists. He could not remember the last time he had been this angry. Sakon flailed his dagger around and managed to stick it in one of the beast's eyes.

Ganon pulled the knife out of his eye and flicked it with his big fingers, as if Sakon had stabbed him with a tooth pick. He popped a blood vessell, but was unscathed, otherwise. Sakon had never attacked Ganondorf-or Ganon-before, so he was horrified as soon as he did. But, for himself, of course. Sakon had only one option left, and he did not like it. He thought that Ganon may kill him, so, for the first time, Sakon used a bomb on him. Anon-lethal one that would only cover him in soot, but a bomb nonetheless. It was then that Ganon turned back into Ganondorf. He held Sakon in the air carefully by his shirt.

"Sakkoooonn!" Ganondorf bellowed. "You actually threw a bomb at me?! The person who hired you?!"

Sakon gulped. He needed to think of something to say. Fast. "Uh... If it makes you feel any better, the bomb was for the magic pig, not you."

"Too bad for you "the magic pig" is THE SAME PERSON!"

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Ganondorf lead the way as Akila dragged Sakon out into the desert. She was quite mad at having to do this task, thinking guard duty was better than dealing with an annoying pervert. Sakon, himself, had his hands tied behind his back, and was beaten to a pulp. Ganondorf could hardly control himself when he found out the crimes Sakon had commited. Something had to be done.

"After this," began Ganondorf,"You'll never steal from me again... ...Hopefully."

They had arrived at a hole in the middle of the desert with a grate on top. Sakon still having a lot of spunk left in him, despite the situation, spat out his reply.

"You drug me all the way out here to put me in that? I'm sorry-no, wait-I'm not-but I've seen treasure holes scarier than that. I'll be in there barely a day before you need me, again. I won't even have to escape!"

Ganondorf then turned to Akila. "Lower him in."

Akila forced Sakon into a tiny bucket that looked an awful like one for drawing well water. She was going to pull on a rope until Sakon was safely at the bottom of the hole, but, to her surprise, Ganondorf threw him in there.

For an explanation, Ganondorf said,"I changed my mind."

She put the grate back in place as Sakon stood up with an aching back. He looked at his new surroundings. Sakon appeared to have been dumped in an old storm drain, there being iron pipes built into the walls. The pipes were filled to the brim with sand, so he did not expect any water to come through them any time soon.

There was a column made of stone that made it all the way up to the ceiling. Sakon was sure he could scale it, but there was also a big rock made of limestone with stepping stones next to it, as if it was put there to ALLOW escape. Then he found a sharp iron poker sticking out of the sand right near the column. Sakon ran over to it and wasted no time in using it to untie himself.

Sakon's mind brimmed with possibilities. Perhaps Ganondorf was simply testing him, adding the whole, "I'm-going-to-kill-you!" bit as an edge? He looked up at his boss for an explanation.

"Welcome to The Testing Cell, Sakon."

"What?" Sakon added in disbelief. "So... I'm going to wait here until you test me?"

Ganondorf looked annoyed, an emotion of which the thief was well-known for causing. "You still don't get it, do you?"

"Get what? This is the part where you reveal your evil plan, right?"

Ganondorf sighed. "This is where I'm going to kill you."

"What? Are you gonna come down here and get me, or chuck stuff at me from above?"

"NO, you imbecile! The cell is going to kill you!"

"What?!" cried Sakon, who just then jumped up about 3 feet in the air. He looked to his left, then right, then down, then towards the pipes. Sakon thought that the walls were about to slam together, or that the floor would part, opening up a sea of lava, or that the sands would part and hungry beasts would spring forth from the pipes and eat him.

Ganondorf was pleased at Sakon's fear. "As I was saying-This is The Testing Cell. It has been here since the first Gerudo King's time. It was originally made to collect rain water, but the king had other ideas. He turned it both into a torture chamber and way of testing those who crossed him."

"But, Sir-" Akila tried to whisper.

"Shh!" he interrupted. "I don't want him to know that."

Akila nodded her head in agreement, although she was not sure why her leader was withholding information. Sakon did not let this slip by.

"What don't you want me to know?" he asked.

"Forget about it." Ganondorf continued. "You see, Sakon... There is very little rain water to be found in the desert."

"Gee, I didn't know that." spoke Sakon, not without sarcasm.

"Yeah?! Well here's something you did know."

Ganondorf got out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. Sakon looked up, questionably.

"Don't get all happy-I'm just reading the crimes you committed."

Ganondorf searched his other pocket.

"Do you have anything I can borrow?" he asked Akila. "I'm missing my glasses."

"Uh... I could read it."

"I'd like to read it myself, if you don't mind."

Akila sighed, then pulled out an old, dusty monocle. Ganondorf gave it a look of scrutiny.

"Hey! This is from my antiquing collection! How did you get this?"

Akila gave a nervous smile."Well... ...I am a thief... ...aren't I?"

Ganondorf just stared for a moment before saying,"And a good one at that! I'm very proud!"

"Hey!" yelled Sakon. "How come I get put in here, while she gets the royal treament?!"

"She doesn't. I was about to say, "Psych!", you know, so I could make her more disappointed?"

"Aw..." said Akila.

Then he began,"'For assaulting The Gerudo King-'"

"-Politics-" began Sakon.

"-'stealing an ancient statue of The Goddess of The Sand'-"

"-religion-"

"-Also, because your performance as a thief has been lacking, lately, so I'd like to test you-'"

"-sex, none-

"-'you, Sakon, are hereby sentenced to finding your way out of the The Testing Cell, or death."

"And you're sentenced to look like an idiot as long as you wear that monocle."

"That one comes from a man who barely knows how to read." Ganondorf said to Akila.

Akila immediately chuckled with laughter.

"And that one comes from a man who was thawarted like a billion times by a 10-year old, and had to have two men work for him who were half his size and had barely any magical powers!"

Akila held back more laughter as Ganondorf flashed her a dirty look.

"You are so in trouble for that. More trouble than stealing from me."

Akila sighed again as she realized her own punishment was probably going to involve something even more boring than guard duty, but, thankfully, not as severe as Sakon's since she was a Gerudo. Still, she tried to get out of it.

"I suppose an apology would make up for it?" she asked, flashing him a hopeful grin.

Before Ganondorf could answer, Sakon asked,"Would you let me out if I apologized?"

Ganondorf was frustrated, especially since Sakon had decided originally not to apologize. "Apologies, accepted!" he chimed.

"What?" asked Akila.

"Really?!" asked Sakon.

"No!" yelled Ganondorf. "Psych."

Both Sakon and Akila said,"Aw..." in unison.

"Let's go."

Ganondorf and Akila turned to leave.

"Wait!" cried Sakon.

Ganondorf looked at Akila, then at Sakon, waited, as if expecting this, then asked,"...Yes, Sakon?"

"You forgot to tell me how I might die."

"Oh, I thought I'd need you again before the day was through." he said in a mocking tone. "I mean, you said so, yourself."

"Yeah, but, uh... Just in case I'm wrong, I'd like to know my possible, horrible fate, if you don't mind?"

"Look up."

"I am looking up."

"Not at me, stupid."

"Her?" Sakon asked, pointing.

Akila once again laughed. Ganondorf rolled his eyes.

"The sky, genious!"

Sakon looked up. He saw a teeny, tiny, little cloud. "...What about it?"

"You see that tiny, little cloud, there?"

"Duh, I'm not blind!"

"I could make you blind..." Ganondorf grumbled to himself. "You see it slooooowwlly making it's way across the desert?"

"Uh, yeah?"

Ganondorf could tell Sakon still was not getting this."In 3 days time-and I know that, because as you stated earlier, I am "magic",-it will be over this grate. Those pipes down where you are will also be opened with this wheel right here-" he pointed to a wheel near the edge of the grate Sakon could barely see. "-and water will come rushing in through them. Water from oasises over the entire desert will be drawn and flooded to this one spot. In short, Sakon, if you can't escape The Testing Cell, you will drown to death."

Sakon thought this over in his head. Ganondorf had forgot-he can swim! He just had to either climb the column or wait until the water fills all the way up to the top. Then he could get out!

As if on cue, Ganondorf let out a ball of energy in the path of the circle, making a perfect seal over the grate.

"There. Try and get out now!"

Sakon's mouth hung open with a gape. How would he escape, now?

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Sakon spent the majority of his time in the hole, of course, with escape attempts. His first tries were met with him climbing the column, using what remained of the rope they used to tie his hands, and then stepping on the giant limestone rock. Sakon had already figured out that the tortures of The Execution Cell included the column and rock. They were obviously put there to give it's victims' false hope. Whoever had put them there-Ganondorf, or the former Gerudo King-were sick.

As Sakon hit the dirt floor for the 1000th time, he decided that it was not the best way to go. He decided to attempt to dig out through one of the pipes. Ganondorf had ordered Akila to open the pipes before they had left, and the sand had spilled half-way into the room. Sakon dug through it for hours, denying the possibility, before finally allowing himself to realize it was futile. There was most likely miles and miles of sand in them, and he knew that there was no way he would dig through them in time. He would rest. Just rest, until he could think of another plan.

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The days past by quickly. Despite being in a damp cell, Sakon felt the full brunt of the harsh heat of the day and freezing cold at night. Each day, Sakon was given three square meals and water via the bucket tied to the rope. Apparently, they wanted him well-fed for his scheduled death. Many times, he tried to inconspiously escape trying the rope tied to the bucket, but Akila simply shook it and he fell. Part of her punishment involved having to feed him. By Ganondorf's orders' she had to break into the cell using a crow bar each day, before using a torch to seal it after the food was dropped. She did not complain, for fear of something worse.

Sakon realized he would have to use something to pry open the grate like Akila did every day. He decided to use the iron poker that he had untied himself with. He would climb the column and limestone rock, using the rope that had bound him, careful not to stab himself with the poker, but he never seemed to make it to the top.

The little rain cloud made it's way across the sky. Sakon gazed up at it in the wake of his despair. There was not much left he could do but wait to die. Then, on the third day, he awoke as he heard the rumbling of thunder. Lightning cracked the sky like an eggshell.

"Guess I better 'scramble' for the exit."

He would try one last time to scale the column. Sakon jumped from the limestone rock, his right hand holding the wrope that binded him. The rope flew to the other side of the column and Sakon caught it in his left hand. That was when he heard the sound of rushing water. Sakon panicked and climbed as high as he could. Sand poured out from the pipes and soon was followed by spouts of water. The room was flooding.

At that moment, the rope caught a a snag protruding from the coulmn and it ripped. Sakon fell back towards the ground. He landed in what he guessed must have been 6 feet of water, about the height of his boss. The water was rapidly approaching the ceiling. Sakon forced his body up the sand colum and dug his fingers into it for leverage. The water finally reached Sakon-and he was a good 12 feet in the air-and the it lapped up against his body, causing the iron poker to slip from his grip, sinking down. He would have to swim for it. Sakon dove under the water until he got to the poker. He grabbed it, then headed for the surface. He hit the metal as hard as he could until it gained way. He was free!

He saw someone approaching on the horizon.

"Yo! Amber! Guess who made it!"

"It's "Akila."" Akila said, placing her hands on her hips.

"How long was I down there?"

"Not long enough."

"Come on! Tell me."

"3 hours. I came to give you your dinner."

"B-But-But-"

"-Did he throw you down there too hard?"

"No! Listen. Where's the water? It was all the way up to the top like a minute ago! I've been here 3 days!"

"Oh, so you got a time machine?"

Sakon was getting a little mad. Not as mad as Ganondorf had been, but mad. "Look, lady. I'm the only one around here that's aloud to be sarcastic."

"You seemed fine lettin' the head honcho say whatever he felt like."

"That doesn't matter! You see how wet I am? How's that possible?"

"Ganondorf got tired of waiting, so he sped it up by making me pumping the pipes."

"Speaking of Ganondorf-Go get him. I want to show him that I passed. NOW!"

"Why should I? I could just kick you back in there and leave you here to rot. I'm kinda upset you didn't let me have it."

"You go get him right now, or I'll tell him the truth. I've got a good escape plan, and if I get out, I'll do it."

Akila's eyes widdended. "...What? But you promised that if I slept with you, you wouldn't tell him about the statue! Not that I didn't have a good time. You gave me the option of bribing me with gold, but the sex was more fun!" She finished with a wink. "But, if you're gonna be like that... Guess I got no choice."

She had known Sakon to escape from Ganondorf more than once, so there was nothing she could do. She got Ganondorf. He came with the prospect of knowing that his plan had worked.

"So, Sakon, ready to get out?"

Akila gave him a quizzical look. Sakon cupped his hands in pure joy.

"You're lettin' him out?" asked Akila.

"You're letting me out?!" asked Sakon. Then he slumped forward and grew disappointed.

"You're going to say "Psych!", again, aren't you?"

"Nope. You're free."

Sakon's joy immediately returned. Akila was stunned.

"BUT, you have to promise to never steal from me, again."

"Oh, I promise!" lied Sakon.

For once, Ganondorf actually was willing to believe him. A bit.

"Let him out." he said to Akila.

She stared at him.

"Let. Him. Out."

Akila lowered the rope and Sakon climbed into the bucket. She pulled him up and Sakon was ellated when his eyes met with the blinding desert sunlight, once more. Sakon escorted himself out of Gerudo Valley, but Ganondorf and Akila turned in the other direction. Akila was happy that part of her punishment was over, but it left with lingering questions.

"I don't get it," she said to her king. "Why'd you let 'em go? And why'd you put 'em in that dumb cell in the first place, when the pipes were damadged from the drilling when there was that famine about 15-20 years back? He couldn't have died!"

"Sakon is an idiot. All along, I had planned of letting him go. I was just tired of him stealing off of me-and you know darn well what else-so I stuck him in The Testing Cell to psychologically get to him. It was enough simply to threaten him with death to get him to stop."

"Are you sure he's going to obey you, from hear on in?"

Ganondorf frowned. "No. But. He'll think twice from now on before stealing off of me."

The End!


End file.
